Db1 employee compensation and benefit - Research Paper Example

Fair Labour Standards Act Insert Insert The Fair Labour Standards Act (FLSA) is federal legislation in the United States that protects workers from bad and unfair labour practises such as, poor working conditions, poor and unequal payments and long working hours. Due to frequent changes in the labour market, there is always a need to amend the act to curb the vices that come along (William, 2003).
To accomplish its objectives, the Fair Labour Standards act has a legal framework, which stated a federal minimum wage rate, created labour laws, set a 40-hour workweek and requirements for overtime payments. This was after concerns by labour groups and associations on the poor payments, working conditions, lack of adequate overtime payments and misuse of child labour. In addition, in 1994 the school to work opportunities act was introduced to the Fair Labour Standards Act. This act had more impact on those businesses that provided on the job training. The main rationale for this act was to provide on the site training and internship based on an agreement between the employer and the student. If any exemption was to be made from the Fair Labour Standards Act, the guidelines had to be followed. This guideline was to ensure the individual role was clearly defined as an intern and not an employee, hence was not entitled to the benefits that would have been in place if he or she was a permanent employee of the company or organization. The only expenses the employer incurred in this case were only those associated with the training. Moreover, the individual was not guaranteed a position after completion of the training. Through this, both parties benefited in that the student got the training and the employer benefited from work the student produced. The 1994 amendment also had in place guidelines whereby owners of small businesses whose annual revenue was below $500,000 were exempted from the FLSA, but did not for those who used interstate business calls or postal mails (Willis, 1997)
In addition, it also stipulated that those employers covered by the act must pay a minimum wage rate of $4.25 per hour for the first 90 days of employment and the current wage thereafter to all the youth workers under the age of 20 years.
The implication of the act was that every employer must meet all the criteria for exemption from the act guidelines without which he or she should comply with the acts working hour and wage guidelines (William, 2003)
References
William, G (2003). The Fair Labour Standards Act. New York: Nova Publishers
Willis, J (1997). The Quest for Living Wage: The History of the Federal Minimum Wage Program .Westport: Green wood publishing group. Read More